According to the awesomely named Mitchell Peters of Billboard, Van Morrison is set to perform his seminal album Astral Weeks in full, and he's performing it twice. The shows will be held November 7-8 at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl, will feature some of the album's original musicians, and promises nudity! Okay, the latter's only true if I make it to one of these shows, because I'd be so excited that I'd get nude and stroke my "Slim Slow Slider" and shoot my "Sweet Thing" "Beside You" "The Way Young Lovers Do." What I'm trying to say here is that I'm going to jizz on you.

Tickets range from $75-$255.50 and will be available October 5 from Ticketscammer. Non-jizz areas may be more expensive. Stay tuned.

Continuing an awesome event from last year and hopefully creating a new tradition that carries over to neighborhoods the world over, The Flaming Lips are heading the “March of 1000 Flaming Skeletons.” The band is asking fans to participate in the October 25 event taking place in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Make sure you stop by The Flaming Lips' website to order the necessary items to be a flaming skeleton, and make sure you read the safety precautions, because no matter what costume you wear, even skeletons can catch on fire.

Last year's event was described by The Flaming Lips as a “spectacle celebrating the mysterious, the supernatural, and the otherworldly.” That just sounds great, especially knowing it was helped put together by the guys who gave you The Soft Bulletin. Sign up now, and make it to the “March of 2000 Flaming Skeletons.” And when you run into Wayne Coyne -- which you will, because no one lives in Oklahoma -- you can congratulate him and the band for being nominated in the Official Rock ‘n’ Roll Song of Oklahoma competition that the panhandle state is holding. Say hi to Starlight Mints, too, who will also be making an appearance (thanks Cameron Buchholtz!).

And finally, as previously reported (TMT News), Christmas on Mars is finally coming November 11 on DVD! Here are the remaining screenings:

Carey Mercer is a busy man. Between leading Frog Eyes (TMT Review) and sharing the lead in Swan Lake (TMT Review), you'd think there was already enough on his plate. This is obviously not the case, as Mercer will be releasing his second full-length solo album under the moniker Blackout Beach later this year.

The album is called Skin of Evil and arrives December 2 via Soft Abuse. This non-animal-related release will span 10 tracks, including some of the best titles I have heard all year: “Biloxi, in a Grove, Cleans Out His Eyes,” “Astoria, Menthol Lite, Hilltop, Wave of Evil 1982,” and “William, the Crowd, It's William.” Describing the album, Mr. Mercer explained to Pitchfork:

I wrote this record because I desired to make something that stays on task. I picked an easy task: desire, longing, flight, the sorrow of absence...the DNA of most good songs. The heart of the record is simple to describe: beautiful Donna and the men she has left. Eight past lovers, some bitter, some crushed, all in some state of duress, all still in love. Each dude gets his song. Donna gets her song. William, her boyfriend, gets his song.

Paul McCartney is set to release a new album under his electronic music pseudonym The Fireman, which is essentially a collaboration between McCartney and producer Martin "Youth" Glover (Killing Joke bassist). Due November 13, Electronic Arguments marks the third Fireman album and first to include vocals.

The album will contain 13 tracks (all written by Macca), each recorded in the span of a day over a period of a year. One of its tracks, "Lifelong Passion," has already been offered as a free download to those who donated to Adopt-A-Minefield. Meanwhile, "Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight" debuted Monday night on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show.

Aaron Fuller, lead singer of the Misfits-inspired punk band Plan 9, died late on Monday night in San Francisco from a motorcycle accident. While traveling home, Fuller went off the side of an overpass then died on impact. The accident is still under investigation by police who are unsure of the exact cause.

As one of the original members of Plan 9, Fuller was known for his incredible stage presence and vocal range.

Fuller’s family has stated that they "want Plan 9 to continue because that is what Aaron would want." The band has not yet commented.

Plan 9 thanks all their fans for the emails and messages, and sends the family of Aaron Fuller their deepest sympathies.

Even though the house killed the financial bailout bill yesterday, Brian Wilson proceeded with the announcement of an upcoming tour that will see him performing That Lucky Old Sun (TMT Review), plus other tunes, in its entirety. The announcement is being seen on both sides of the aisle as "terribly timed" and "unpatriotic."

"I just don't understand why Wilson has to make the announcement right now," says Jerry Brucken, financial expert. "Doesn't he know there's a financial crisis? We need to stop making tour announcements and start bailing out the filthy rich -- they have kids to feed, too, you know."

The people on main street are upset too. "This is ridiculous," says Jill Haas, some chick who has a couple loans under her name. "We have to focus all our energy and work on this bill so we can pass it in this time of panic and frenzy." Bob Range, her longtime boyfriend, added: "Okay, okay, we're using socialism to bailout capitalism. But just this once, okay? Like McCain and Obama, I have faith in the free market."

Here's a video of Ralph Nader on the financial bailout bill, which, if you use a little creativity, sorta kinda implies why he might think Brian Wilson's decision to schedule a tour was a bad political move.

Leading a coalition of internet advocacy groups and web-related companies, Google Inc. recently testified in front of the Department of Commerce in Washington. The issue at hand was the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a developing international treaty that aims to reduce piracy and counterfeiting of copyrighted material. While the treaty is yet unwritten, the proceedings surrounding its composition have been conducted in secrecy.

Though the treaty also concerns such physical goods as electronics and pharmaceuticals, it is its provisions toward digital media that garnered Google’s attention. A leaked outline of the treaty indicated that it might endow corporate copyright holders with the ability to hold ISPs (internet service providers) responsible for any copyrighted material distributed using their services. While internet issues had allegedly not yet been discussed in the hearings, the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the U.S. trade office, demanding it publicize the details of the negotiations.

Although signing the treaty would require no change to existing U.S. law, Google urged the Bush administration not to sign (or to at least exclude the internet from the treaty), as doing so would freeze the law in its current state. In a changing media climate, argued representatives from Google, the U.S. Congress and courts have not yet found the appropriate balance between copyright protection and free exchange of information. Asked Google policy counsel Johanna Shelton, “Why would we want to enshrine one view of U.S. law?”

In the opinion of this writer, this balance (between copyright and fair use) will never be “settled.” As our methods of media distribution adapt to rapidly-developing technology, there may be no “end point” for U.S. copyright law. Gone are the days of a static approach to an unchanging media environment. There now exists, rather, a constantly shifting equilibrium that must be maintained by both the government and its citizens as the circumstances develop.

In a welcomed update to a story we posted two weeks ago (TMT News), the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act Bill -- approved last Friday by the Senate -- seems geared for a veto after the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce issued a joint statement September 23, 2008 voicing concerns over the increased bureaucracy and the weakened separation of powers mandated by the bill.

The White House successfully lobbied the Senate to remove language tasking the Department of Justice with suing copyright and trademark infringers on behalf of Hollywood, the recording industry, manufacturers and software makers. But the Bush administration also doesn't want a copyright czar, a position on par with the nation's drug czar Congress created in 1982 to wage the War on Drugs. Lawmakers, however, sent him the package anyway.

The EIPRA would grant federal prosecutors with the authority to pursue file-sharers in violation of copyright laws and create an IP Enforcement Coordinator within the executive branch — an intrusion into federal authority and federal spending which would afford copyright holders with pro bono representation from Department of Justice prosecutors. And remember, we live in an era of “fiscal responsibility,” as the DoJ’s letter states.

(BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, the potential veto on the EIPRA bill totally ruins the wicked awesome, yet wholly imaginary “The RIAA is Conspiring with the Federal Government to Eradicate All Traces of Internet Privacy in a Desperate Ploy to Recoup Diminishing Revenue / Name that Tune Contest!” So, I guess by default, the prize goes to the Department of Justice for stickin’ it to the RIAA. And to teddy bear companies, screw those guys. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read our first story on this bill so you don't miss out on my sharp wit!)

My consumer confidence in rock shows for this quarter just went through the roof. Seriously, find your day planner and pencil in some quality time with Gang Gang Dance and Marnie Stern, the sickest tour announced in quite some time.

If you're a Marnie Stern n00b and need a quick lesson, here's what you should know: First, this girl rips on the axe. We're talking rapid-fire EVH finger-tapping solos on double-necked Gibson SG Supremes and Fender Jaguars. Second, she shreds with the likes of Pterodactyl and Hella. Third, indie rock nerds turn into teenage boys around her. And finally, she'll be traveling the countryside spreading gospel from her new album on Kill Rock Stars, out October 7, titled This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That, demonstrating a love for pronouns equal to her love for Sleater-Kinney and Melt Banana.

Gang Gang Dance is also celebrating a new album, Saint Dymphna, out October 21 on The Social Registry label, and will have Marnie join them on their Midwest and West Coast dates. Gang Gang Dance brings a "worldbeat" slant to the table without sounding anything like NPR bumper music. Psychedelic, tribal, art-damaged -- many labels are tossed, but ultimately, Gang Gang Dance are one of the very elite groups of musicians who've cultivated a sound that defies categorization. See the rest of GGD's jaunt here.

This is a one-of-a-kind tour, so if a community near you is on this list, you have plans, my friend (no matter who's getting married that day)

Yes, my protest sign is a coffee table, and it also didn't make it into the special Under the Radar Magazine's Summer Protest Issue, but who's counting? (Next year, I will spend more time on my tree disguise.) Artists like The Flaming Lips, Spoon, Built to Spill, Sharon Jones, Shout Out Louds, Les Savy Fav, R.E.M., Chuck D, Talib Kweli, and oh so many more donated their art skills and pretty faces to make up a photographic representation of their various protestations. From the plight of polar bears to paper ballots to health care to the right to live in Woody Guthrie's America, these artists ran the gamut of righteous grievances, and you can check out photos and clips from the issue here.

As if that wasn't dece enough, many of these artists donated their signs to be auctioned off for charity, specifically War Child, an organization working to help children in war-torn areas around the world, which recently announced a compilation benefit CD (TMT News). You can check out the signs up for grabs here, and remember, the auctions begin today!